Agrochimica, Vol. LIII - N.

March-April 2009

Effects of long-term organic and chemical fertilization on N and P in wheat plants and in soil during crop growth
A. MANDAL, A.K. PATRA*, D. SINGH, A. SWARUP, T.J. PURAKAYASTHA, R.E. MASTO
Division of Soil Science & Agricultural Chemistry, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110 012, India.

Received 25 January 2008 Received in revised form 26 May 2008 Accepted 18 June 2008

Keywords: crop development stages, farm yard manure (FYM), long-term fertilizer use, nitrogen, phosphorus, soil moisture.

INTRODUCTION. Of all farming practices, balanced fertilization and management of soil fertility are among the most important measures toward a sustainable crop production that will be required to meet the demands of food grain production for burgeoning (> 1 billion) human populations of India. Proper soil fertility management is indispensable to ensure adequate nutrient availability to plants and improve or sustain crop yields. In a soil-plant system, any alteration on the fertility management (e.g., balanced or imbalanced fertilization, use of organics, etc.) will have a strong feed back at the soil-plant interface (KUZYAKOV, 2002; NGUYEN, 2003), and subsequently on the long-term agricultural productivity and sustainability of the ecosystem. The Long-Term Fertiliser Experiments (LTFEs) are invaluable for the study of yield trends, changes in nutrient dynamics and balances, predicting soil carrying capacity, assessing soil quality and system sustainability and risk management (SWARUP et al., 1998; REGMI et al., 2002). In India, the LTFEs were established in the early seventies of the last century. Since then these experiments are assessed periodically for the changes of soil fertility or biochemical parameters. In recent years, trends of soil fertility changes in many of the long-term studies in India or elsewhere have been reported from samples obtained after the crop harvest or prior to growing next crop (SWARUP et al., 1998; REGMI et al., 2002; KAUTZ et al., 2004; MANNA et al., 2005; MANNA et al., 2006; MASTO et al., 2006). In contrast, information on the soil nutrients dynamics and their concentration during plant growth (JOSEPH and PRASAD, 1993), and their relationships with crop
*

Corresponding author: email: patraak@gmail.com

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yields is limited. Since soil processes are affected by several factors and are dynamic in nature, understanding the pattern of temporal fluctuation of nutrient availability in the agro-ecosystem and crop uptake is important for better nutrient management and higher crop yields. The objective of the present investigation was to examine the effect of long-term application of fertilisers and manure and wheat growth stages on (1) dynamics of available N and P in soil, (2) concentration of N and P in wheat crop during its growth stages, and (3) their interrelationships and linkages with wheat yield, in a Typic Haplustept of the semi-arid sub-tropical agroecosystem of India.
MATERIALS AND METHODS Experimental site and treatments. This experiment was conducted in the rabi season (cooler winter-spring period, November 2004 to April 2005) using soil samples under wheat crop of the long-term fertiliser experiment (LTFE) at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi, located at 2837-2839 N latitude and 779-7711 E longitude, and is about 250 m above mean sea level. The experimental area is a semi-arid sub-tropical, characterised by hot summers and cold winters with a mean annual maximum and minimum air temperature of 40.5 and 6.5 C, respectively. The mean annual precipitation is about 670 mm, most of which is confined to a three-month period from July to September (monsoon season). The rainfall and average temperatures, which prevailed during the course of the study, has been depicted in Figure 1. The total precipitation was 189.9 mm and average temperatures ranged from 9.9 to 23.3 C. The on-going LTFE at IARI, New Delhi was set up in 1971 with intensive cropping sequence of pearl millet wheat cowpea (fodder). Later in 1982, pearl millet was replaced by maize, and in 2002 cowpea was dropped. Hence, the cropping sequence since 2002 was maize wheat. The soil was an Inceptisol (Typic Haplustept) with the following initial properties: sand 69%, silt 16%, clay 14%, pH (1:2.5) 8.3, electrical conductivity (EC, 1:2.5) 0.45 dS m-1, CEC 10.6 cmol (p+) kg-1, soil organic carbon (Walkley-Black) 4.4 g kg-1. The full details of the experiments have been reported earlier (SINGH et al., 1998). The treatments were planned as per the technical programme of All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on LTFE, consisted of 10 fertiliser treatments. The 6 treatments selected for this study were control (where crops were grown with no manure or fertilizer), 100% N, 100% NP, 100% NPK, 100% NPK + S and 100% NPK + FYM. Based on the initial soil test values, the optimum fertiliser dose (100% NPK) was 120 kg N, 26 kg P and 33 kg K per hectare for maize and wheat and 20 kg N, 17 kg P and 17 kg K per hectare for cowpea (fodder crop). Farm yard manure (FYM) with an average composition of 350 g kg-1 C, 5 g kg-1 total N, 2.5 g kg-1 total P, 15 g kg-1 total K and 30 mg kg-1 Zn was applied at a rate of 15 t ha-1 once in a cropping cycle, i.e., each year before the sowing of maize. Sulphur in 100% NPK + S was applied through single super phosphate (containing 12% S). The treatments were laid out in a randomised block design (RBD), having a plot size of 21 x 8 m. There were three replications for this study. The fertiliser sources of N, P and K were urea/diammonium phosphate (DAP), DAP/single superphosphate and muriate of potash, respectively. In the present study, soil samples were studied under the wheat crop of the crop sequence maize (cv. Ganga Safed-2) wheat (cv. HD-2329). Wheat was sown on 25th

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November 2004 with a row spacing of 22 cm using seed drill. For fertilization, 50% of N and entire quantity of phosphatic, and potassic fertilisers were applied as basal dose and remaining half of the dose of N after one month of sowing. A total of six irrigations were applied during the crop growth. Other agronomic practices were adopted as per necessary. Soil and plant sampling. Composite surface (0-15 cm) soil samples (i.e. 10 random samples from each plot thoroughly mixed to make one) were collected from each plot (i.e., replicate) at three physiological stages of wheat crop, viz., tillering, flowering and dough, on 12 January, 18 February and 14 March 2005, respectively. The 18 composite samples (6 treatments x 3 replications at each sampling event) were placed in plastic bags and transported to the laboratory, where field moist soil was sieved (2 mm mesh size), homogenized and stored at 4 C. The moisture content was immediately determined by gravimetric method. Plant samples (2 plants cut at the soil surface level from each heal) were also taken at each soil-sampling event from the same site of soil samples (10 places from each plot). The 18 composite plant samples (6 treatments x 3 replicates at each sampling event) were placed in brown paper bags and transported to the laboratory along with the soil samples. In the laboratory the plant samples were washed with tap water followed by dilute HCl and distilled water (SINGH et al., 1999). Samples were then air dried (25 C) in shade to remove the excess water and stored. Prior to analyses, the plant samples were oven-dried at 70 C and finely ground. Analysis of soil and plant samples. For mineral N (NH4+ and NO3-N) contents, soils were extracted with 2M KCl in the next day of sampling and analyzed by following the procedure as described by KEENEY and NELSON (1982). Mineralizable N (0.32% KMnO4 oxidisable) was estimated by following the procedure given by SUBBIAH and ASIJA (1956). Available-P (i.e., Olsen-P) was determined using 0.5M NaHCO3 (pH 8.5), as described by OLSEN and SOMMERS (1982). For determining N contents in plants, samples were digested in concentrated H2SO4 along with a mixture of K2SO4 and CuSO4 (20:1) at a temperature between 360 and 410 C. On completion of digestion, the digested samples were distilled in under alkaline condition and evolved ammonia was trapped on boric acid using semi automated steam distillation apparatus (Gerhardt Vapodest 30, Germany). Amount of ammonium borate formed was titrated against standard H2SO4 (SINGH et al., 1999). For P contents, plant samples were digested in a mixture of HNO3, HClO4, and H2SO4 (10:4:1) and determined spectrophotometrically by adopting vanadomolybdophosphoric yellow colour method (SINGH et al., 1999). For grain yield determination, wheat at maturity was harvested manually at ground level from each plot. The grains were threshed using a mechanical thresher and weighed. Grain moisture was determined immediately after weighing, and drying the samples at 70 C for 48 h. Statistical analysis. A two-factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to determine the effects of fertilizer treatments, physiological stages and their interactions on nutrient dynamics and concentration. Whereas, one-way ANOVA was used for analysis of grain yield of wheat. Least significant difference (LSD at p = 0.05) was used to determine whether means differed significantly. For statistical analysis of data, Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Corporation, USA) and SPSS window version 10.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, USA) packages were used.

TABLE 1. Nutrient availability in soil and their concentration in plants as affected by long-term fertilizer application and stages of wheat growth.

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Treatments

Soil moist NH4-N (%) (mg kg-1) 12.8 12.3 12.3 12.8 12.3 11.9 0.44 1.25 1.43 4.11 0.87 2.51 1.70 4.89 2.33 6.69 0.39 1.13 0.33 0.96 11.4 12.9 12.9 12.9 20.9 19.9 15.4 21.6 23.6 28.1 30.1 36.5 26.8 34.6 36.5 41.1 51.1 56.4 78.5 84.5 90.2 95.3 100.0 105.8 6.9 8.2 9.5 9.8 12.2 13.7 18.3 22.6 23.7 24.7 23.8 26.5

NO3-N (mg kg-1)

TMN Mineralizable N (mg kg-1) (mg kg-1)

Olsen-P (mg kg-1)

Plant-N (g kg-1)

Plant-P (g kg-1) 1.9 2.7 2.9 3.9 3.1 3.7

Control 100% N 100% NP 100% NPK 100% NPK + S 100% NPK + FYM

S. Em LSD (P = 0.05)

0.07 0.27

Physiological stages Tillering Flowering Dough 12.5 14.1 10.7 0.31 0.89 1.01 2.91 0.62 1.77 1.20 3.45 1.65 4.73 21.9 13.7 10.0 27.8 25.7 24.3 49.7 39.4 34.2 105.8 91.8 79.5

11.0 9.1 10.1 0.28 0.80

31.6 20.6 17.6 0.24 0.68

4.3 2.6 2.1 0.09 0.19

S. Em LSD (P = 0.05)

ANOVA (Source of variation) df NS < 0.01 NS < 0.01 < 0.01 0.01 < 0.01 < 0.01 0.02 p-value

Treatment Stage Treatment x Stage

5 2 10

< 0.01 < 0.01 < 0.01

< 0.01 < 0.01 < 0.01

< 0.01 < 0.01 < 0.01

< 0.01 < 0.01 0.04

< 0.01 < 0.01 < 0.01

Soil moist, soil moisture; NH4+, Ammonium N; NO3-, Nitrate N; TMN, Total mineral-N; for treatments, values are mean of 3 stages (n = 9); for physiological stages, values are mean of 6 treatments (n = 18).

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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Soil moisture. Moisture status of the soil samples differed significantly at various growth stages of wheat crop, but not affected by fertiliser treatments, or by the interaction between treatments and wheat growth stages (Table 1). Average moisture content was highest at flowering (14%) and lowest at the dough (10.7%) stage. In soil, moisture contents are influenced by soil organic matter contents. However, in this study, although FYM was applied at 15 t ha-1 along with 100% NPK over 34 years, and there was a significant buildup of organic carbon (SWARUP et al., 1998; MASTO et al., 2006), there was no significant differences in moisture retention capacity of the soils. The time of sampling showed a pronounced effect, perhaps because of weather conditions (Figure 1) and crop demand. The reason for a weak or absence of a relationship between soil moisture contents and many of the parameters (Table 2) studied in this experiment may be ascribable to the maintenance of soil moisture that did not limit the nutrient transformations processes under study. Several other workers also have observed no consistent relationship between soil moisture and many biological processes occurring in soil (QUILCHANO and MARAN 2002; PATRA et al., 2006). Ammonium (NH4+)-N, nitrate (NO3-)-N and total mineral N (NH4+ + NO3-N). Concentration of NH4+-N in soil was significantly affected by fertilizer treatments, stages of wheat growth and their interactions (Table 1). Mean values of the treatments for NH4+-N ranged from 11.4 mg in control to 19.9 mg kg-1 in 100% NPK + S. The treatments 100% NPK + FYM and 100% NPK + S were at par, and significantly better than rest of the treatments, proving that addition of FYM or S along with 100% NPK is favourable for maintaining higher concentration of NH4+-N in soil. During the wheat growth, maximum tillering stage of wheat crop found to have highest concentration of NH4+-N (21.9 mg kg-1) in soil followed by flowering (13.7 mg kg-1) and dough (10 mg kg-1) stage. Maximum tillering stage is that stage of wheat crop duing its growth when number of tillers attained highest. In this stage, it may be expected that plant is physiologically more active and root exudates/secretion is high. As a result microbial abundance and activity in the rhizosphere at maximum tillering stage may have a significant impact on nutrients availability. With regard to NO3-N, it also followed the trend as in case of NH4+N. Mean values of the treatments for mineral nitrogen NO3-N ranged from 15.4 mg kg-1 in control to 36.5 mg kg-1 in 100% NPK + FYM treatment. The values for the treatments 100% NPK + FYM and 100% NPK

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+ S were significantly higher than 100% N, 100% NP and control. The treatment of 100% NPK and 100% NPK + S were not significantly different for NO3-N contents. Comparison of growth stages have revealed that maximum tillering stage of wheat was most effective to maintain significantly higher NO3-N than flowering and dough stages. In fact at flowering and dough stages NO3-N in soil remained almost similar. The highest value of NO3-N (27.8 mg kg-1) was observed due to interactive effect of 100% NPK + FYM treatment and maximum tillering stage of wheat growth. For total mineral N (TMN), the effect of growth stages or the interactions between stages of crop and treatments followed the similar trend as has been observed for NH4+-N and NO3-N concentrations in soil (Table 1). Based upon the (TMN) concentrations, the treatments can be arranged in the following order: NPK + FYM > NPK + S > NP > N > Control. However, statistically the difference between NP and NPK, and between N and NP were not significant. According to Rees and Castle et

FIGURE 1. Average weekly temperatures and weekly rainfall at IARI research farm, New Delhi, during the experimental period (November 2004 to March 2005). Inverted arrow indicates sampling event.

TABLE 2. Pearsons correlation (r) matrix for soil nutrient availability and nutrient concentration during wheat growth. NO3-N 0.65** 1.00 0.73** 0.99** 1.00 0.63** 0.80** 0.81** 1.00 0.52** 0.47** 0.50** 0.63** 1.00 0.67** 0.88** 0.88** 0.77** 0.47** 1.00 TMN Mineralizable N Olsen-P Plant-N Plant-P NS NS NS NS 0.63** NS 1.00 Soil moist NS NS NS 0.27* NS NS NS 1.00

Parameters

NH4+-N

LONG-TERM FERTILIZATION EFFECTS

NH4+-N NO3-N TMN Mineralizable N Olsen-P Plant N Plant P Soil moist

1.00

NH4+, Ammonium N; NO3-, Nitrate N; TMN, Total mineral-N; i.e., (NH4+ + NO3-)-N; *, ** marked correlations are significant at p = 0.05 and 0.01, respectively (n = 54, data pooled from all 3 stages); NS, not significant at p = 0.05.

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al. (2002) application of manures leads to an enrichment of the soil N pool, and increases the long-term efficiency of organic fertilizer by releasing higher mineral N. Mineralizable N. Mineralizable N in soil samples varied significantly (p < 0.05) due to long-term impact of fertiliser treatments, stages of wheat growth and their interactions. Mean values of the treatments for mineralizable N ranged from 78.5 mg kg-1 in control to 105.8 mg kg-1 in 100% NPK + FYM. Addition of S with 100% NPK has exhibited as the next best value for mineralizable N. The data have revealed that 100% NP and 100% N were at par, and so were 100% NPK and 100% NPK + S. Treatments 100% N and control also proved to be statistically similar with each other. At maximum tillering stage, mineralizable N was highest (105.8 mg kg-1) in soil followed by flowering (91.8 mg kg-1) and dough (79.5 mg kg-1) stage. Increase in soil organic C, total N and available N levels due to longterm application of S and manures with balanced NPK has been reported by several workers (MUTHUSWAMY et al., 1990; SWARUP et al., 1998; MASTO et al., 2006). One of the major reasons for such observations is

FIGURE 2. Grain yield of wheat in 2005 as affected by long-term fertilizer and manure application. Bars indicate standard errors (n = 3). Means not sharing a letter in common differ significantly (P = 0.05) from each other according to DMRT. NS = not significant.

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greater input of root biomass due to better crop productivity (see Fig. 2). Interaction effect of treatments (e.g., NPK + FYM) and rhizosphere conditions induced by plant growth stages (e.g., tillering) played a major role in the enhancement of nutrient availability (e.g., mineralizable N). On an average, shoots export to belowground about half of the C fixed by photosynthesis (NGUYEN, 2003). Thus, the extra plant growth achieved by long-term balanced fertilization (NPK + S or NPK + FYM) would stimulate more below ground flux of C fixed by photosynthesis. The release of organic C from roots into the soil might be regarded as a lost pool of reduced C that no longer contributed to dry matter production. However, it is well established that application of organic manures (KHORSANDI and NOURBAKSH, 2007) or rhizodeposits stimulate biological activity, and benefits plants by enhancing nutrient availability (KUZYAKOV, 2002; NGUYEN, 2003). Available-P (Olsen-P). Available-P (Olsen-P) contents in soil samples have also shown a significant (p < 0.05) impact of different fertiliser treatments and stages of wheat growth (Table 1). It can be seen that among the various growth stages maximum tillering stage of wheat recorded highest amount of Olsens P (11.0 mg kg-1) in soil followed by dough (10.1 mg kg-1) and flowering (9.1 mg kg-1) stage. Mean values of the treatments for Olsen-P ranged from as low as 6.9 mg kg-1 in control to 13.7 mg kg-1 in 100% NPK + FYM. The 100% NPK + FYM and 100% NPK + S proved to be at par and significantly higher than 100% NPK treatment. It was evident that wherever P was applied, it increased the available P content of the soil. It is well known that phosphatic fertilisers have a considerable residual effect on subsequent crops and availability of P in soils. This is partly due to low solubility of phosphates and comparatively low use efficiency owing to its fixation in soil. A remarkable improvement in available P status had been reported earlier by SINGH et al. (1998) for these soils. Beneficial role of FYM in improving the soil available P has long been observed and well established (SWARUP et al., 1998; PRASAD, 1999; KHAN et al., 2007). In an earlier study MASTO et al. (2007) had observed the least P fixation in FYM treated plots, which could be due to blocking of the P fixation sites by organic molecules released from the decomposing manure (SUBRAMANIAN and KUMARASWAMY, 1989; KHAN et al., 2007). Nitrogen in plants. Nitrogen concentration in the plant samples during wheat growth has shown a distinct (p < 0.05) effect of long-term fertiliser treatments and stages of wheat growth. At maximum tillering

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of wheat, plant N was highest (31.6 g kg-1) followed by flowering (20.6 g kg-1) and dough (17.6 g kg-1) stage. Mean values of the treatments for plant N ranged from 18.3 g kg-1 in control to 26.5 g kg-1 in 100% NPK + FYM. The values pertaining to 100% NPK, 100% NPK + S and 100% NP were at par but significantly lower than 100% NPK + FYM. As far as N concentration, the treatment effect can be arranged in the following order: NPK + FYM > NPK + S > NPK > NP > N > Control. It was interesting that in a passage of one month from tillering to flowering, there was a reduction of about 30% N contents in growing plant biomass. Such a high reduction, however, was not noticed when plant reached to dough stage. This indicates that the capacity of accumulating N in plant during growth is highest at the tillering stage. Thereafter as the biomass of plant increases the concentration of N in plants gets diluted, or the N uptake is reduced because of reduction in N requirement. High N concentration in plants at early stage has been reported by PATRA (1983) for wheat and by YANG et al. (2002) for rice. These results are also in agreement with the significant effects of organic and inorganic fertilisers on N concentration of plants that have previously been reported (EGHBALL and POWER, 1999). Thus it is evident that availability of N, as affected by N supply, in soils through different treatments (e.g., highest in 100% NPK + FYM) has a strong implication on N uptake. Phosphorus in plants. The data on P concentration in wheat plants also showed a significant (p < 0.05) effect of fertiliser treatments, stages of wheat growth and their interactions. With respect to treatments, plant P concentration ranged from as low as 1.9 g kg-1 in control to 3.9 mg kg1 in 100% NPK. Like N, a decreasing trend of plant P concentration from tillering to dough was evident. Comparison among the stages showed highest P concentration at tillering (4.3 g kg-1) of wheat crop followed by dough (2.6 g kg-1) and flowering (2.1 g kg-1) stage. In terms of percent reduction this was about 40% from tillering to flowering in one-month time and 50% from tillering to dough in two months time. Such decreasing trend of P concentrations during the wheat growth period supports the work of SKUDRA and SKUDRA (2004), who have shown the concentrations of P to decrease in the wheat leaves throughout the growing season. As has been observed in this study (Table 2), SKUDRA and SKUDRA (2004) have also reported a close correlation between P concentration in wheat leaves and Olsen-P concentration in soil at depth of 0-15 cm. Wheat yield. With respect to wheat grain yield, there was no significant difference between control and 100% N treatment (Figure 2). The treatments can be arranged in the following order: 100% NPK +

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FYM (4940 kg ha-1) > 100% NPK + S (4687 kg ha-1) > 100% NPK (4336 kg ha-1) > 100% NP (3939 kg ha-1) > 100% N (3181 kg ha-1) > control (2593 kg ha-1). At the 34th year of the cropping cycle wheat yield in NPK + FYM was almost double than that in control and 55% more than that in the 100% N treatment. The data on crop yields from this experiment over the years have been reported earlier (SINGH et al., 1998), indicating the benefits of organic manure on crop performance. Correlations. Analyses of correlation studies have revealed the existence of significant linear relationship (p = 0.01) between soil nutrient availability and nutrient concentration in plant (Table 2). Soil moisture was not correlated with the observed parameters except with N mineralizaton (r = 0.27*). Stepwise regression equations were developed to find out the important factors among the observed parameters at a particular physiological stage, which significantly associated with grain yield of wheat. It was observed that mineralizable N at tillering (R2 = 0.80), NO3N at flowering (R2 = 0.73) and Olsen-P, and Plant-P (R2 = 0.87) at dough stages (Table 3) were significant at the respective stages to predict the grain yield of wheat crop. This shows that soil N was most important than other factors up to the flowering stage of wheat. When the crop reached dough stage both Olsen-P in soil and Plant-P becomes more important than N, perhaps to meet the demands of P at the dough stage. In cereals, during seed and grain development period, content of phytate (storage form of P, synthesized from myoinositol, phytic acid and phosphate groups) sharply rises (OGAWA et al., 1979). Since phytates are involved in regulation of starch synthesis during grain filling, an association with soil available-P and Plant-P in such soil may be expected (SAHA et al., 2007).
TABLE 3. Stepwise regression of grain yield of wheat with NH4+-N, NO3-N, total mineral-N (NH4+-N + NO3-N), mineralizable-N (MN), Olsen-P, plant-N, plant-P and soil moisture (n = 18) at a particular physiological stage. Physiological stage Predictor variable MN NO3-N Plant-P, Olsen-P Constant Coefficient R2 p (model)

Maximum tillering Flowering Dough

-107.0 1120.3 72.4

38.3 110.0 940.7 183.8

0.80 0.73 0.87

0.000 0.000 0.002 0.001

The values are fitted in the equation: y = a + bx1 + cx2, y = grain yield; x1 and x2 are the independent variables; a is constant; b c and are coefficients.

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CONCLUSIONS. It can be concluded from the present study that longterm application of balanced and integrated use of fertilisers and organic manures (e.g., NPK, NPK + FYM, NPK + S) is most desirable in order to improve nutrient availability in soil, their concentration in crops and crop yields. The maximum tillering stage of wheat growth played the most significant role to enhance nutrient availability in soil and their concentrations in plants. The benefits of balanced fertilization were accrued by interactive effects with better crop growth. It has been also emerged that available N (mineralizable N and nitrate N) in soil up to flowering, and thereafter P were most significantly associated with grain yields; thus their supply and proper management are important.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. Authors are thankful to the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi, India, for providing facilities for carrying out this research work. A. Mandal is highly grateful to IARI, New Delhi, for awarding him a Junior Research Fellowship.

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SUMMARY. A 34-year long-term fertilizer experimental (LTFE) site on a Typic Haplustept at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (New Delhi) was used for the present study. The objective was to investigate the effect of six fertilizer and farmyard manure (FYM) treatments (Control, N, NP, NPK, NPK + S, NPK + FYM) and three physiological stages (tillering, flowering and dough) of wheat crop on the pattern of mineral N (NH4+ and NO3-), mineralizable N and Olsen-P dynamics in soil, and concentration of N and P in wheat crop during November 2004 to April 2005. A balanced application of NPK (i.e. 100% NPK) + farmyard manure (FYM) showed highest values of the above observations and control (0 NPK) showed the lowest. Growth stages of wheat crop affected the studied parameters significantly (p < 0.05), being highest at tillering followed by flowering and dough stages. A significant positive interactive effect of fertiliser treatments and stages of wheat growth was also recorded for N and P availability in soil and their uptake by wheat crop. Stepwise regressions have revealed that grain yield of wheat was significantly associated with mineralizable N at tillering (R2 = 0.80), NO3-N at flowering (R2 = 0.73), and Olsen-P and Plant-P (R2 = 0.87) at dough stage of wheat growth. The results indicate that in the background of long-term fertility management regimes, crop growth (rhizospheric feed back) stages have significant impact on the nutrient dynamics in soil and nutrient concentration in growing plants.